20th Century Religion/Philosophy Essay (3) (For a more comprehensive listing see 20th-Century Religion/Philosophy Grids ) Karl Barth 1886-1968 Swiss theologian. The son of a New Testament scholar, Barth was born in Basel, educated in Germany, studied with the leading liberal Protestant theologians of his day and became a pastor in the Swiss Reformed Church. When confronted with the practical aspects of preaching, Barth became disillusioned with the optimistic, utopian and progressivist views of the traditional liberal Protestantism which he had embraced. What does one preach that will meet people's needs? After a systematic re-examination of Scripture, Barth completely reevaluated his theological position and found what he called "the strange new world within the Bible ." He started his study with Paul 's letter to the Romans , making extensive notes as he studied. The result was his Commentary on Romans (1919) which established his theological reputation.

Thus began an anti-liberal movement that has been variously called "Crisis Theology," "Dialectical Theology," "Neo-Orthodoxy," or what Barth and his followers called the "Theology of the Word of God." In 1933 Barth opposed the Nazis in their remaking of the German Evangelical Church into a tool of the party. He was one of the organizers of the German Confessing Church, and the author of the Barmen Declaration which asserted the sovereignty of the Word of God and its witness to Jesus Christ over political ideologies. After refusing to take the unconditional loyalty oath to Hitler required of all German professors, Barth was dismissed from his post in Bonn and forced to leave Germany. The University of Basel elected him Professor of Theology and he spent the remainder of his career there until his retirement in 1962. He spent twenty-five years writing his magnum opus, Church Dogmatics (12 vols., 1932-1967). Barth's neo-orthodoxy began with the realization of man's wickedness (not a topic dear to traditional liberal Protestants) and emphasized God's boundless grace.

James Livingston expresses it best in discussing Barth and his associate and friend Eduard Thurneysen. "They discovered a 'strange new world' which had been hidden from them by the pedantry and erudition of the biblical philologists and historians." (James C. Livingston, Modern Christian Thought: From the Enlightenment to Vatican II. Macmillan, 1971, p.311.) Barth's other important works include: Knowledge of God and the Service of God (1938); Dogmatics in Outline (1947); Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century (1952); The Humanity of God (1957). WWW -- Karl Barth The Barmen Declaration, 1934 (UCC) -- Online text. Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945 German Lutheran pastor and theologian and activist in the resistance to Hitler . Bonhoeffer, a student of Adolf von Harnack in Berlin and an enthusiastic supporter of Karl Barth 's neo-orthodoxy, became the head of a seminary of the German Confessing Church until it was closed by the Nazis in 1937.

(During 1929-1930 he was a graduate student at Union Theological Seminary in New York.) Bonhoeffer felt that the church had no message for an increasingly secularized world and therefore needed a radical transformation. He opted for a Christianity which was secular and "this-worldly" in which the vocation of the church is that of servant. Bonhoeffer saw genuine Christian discipleship as "costly" since it would involve hardship and unpopularity. God is seen in his powerlessness and suffering for others, i.e., as the crucified Christ. Bonhoeffer argued that both individual piety and metaphysical supernaturalism abandon the world in their otherworldly emphasis. Bonhoeffer held that Christians are to live in the world, not abandon it. Owing to his anti-Nazi activities he was arrested in 1943 and sent to Buchenwald. He was hanged in Flossenberg on 9 April 1945, just prior to the American liberation.

Bonhoeffer's most important works include: Act and Being (1931); The Cost of Discipleship (1937); Ethics (1949, posth.); Letters and Papers from Prison (1951, posth.); Creation and Fall (1959, posth.); No Rusty Swords (1965, posth.); The Way to Freedom (1966); Christology (1966, posth.); True Patriotism (1973, posth.). WWW -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (westminster-abbey) -- Short profile with image. Martin Buber 1878-1965 Jewish religious thinker and active Zionist. Buber's major activity from 1906 was the study of religion. A native of Vienna, he served both as an editor of Der Jude, an influential German Jewish monthly he founded in 1916, and as a professor in Jewish ethics and theology in Frankfurt.

(He, like his fellow Jewish educators, was dismissed from his post in 1933.) In 1926 he began a collaboration with Protestant and Catholic religious thinkers in publishing a journal, The Creature, and had considerable influence on German and English theologians. In his masterpiece, I and Thou, Buber stressed the importance of knowing another person as a "someone" rather than a "something" (or an I-It relationship). The I-Thou relationship is one of love and appreciation, not proselytizing; one of dialogue and openness, not ignorance and distance. Buber saw God as the "Eternal Thou" and said that we encounter Him in others. "In each Thou we address the Eternal Thou." He constantly stressed dialogue (especially between Arabs and Jews), which focused on the full appreciation for the personhood of the other. To the end, he remained firmly dedicated to the role and place of Israel's calling of bringing peace and salvation to the world. In 1938 he went to Palestine where he became Professor of Social Philosophy at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Buber's other important works include: On Judaism (1916); The Kingship Of God (1932); Tales Of The Hasidim (1947); Between Man and Man (1947); The Prophetic Faith (1949); Paths in Utopia (1950); The Types of Faith (1951); The Eclipse of God (1953); Good and Evil: Two Interpretations (1953); Pointing the Way (1957). WWW -- Martin Buber Existentialist: Martin Buber (Katharena Eiermann) -- Article. Rudolf Bultmann 1884-1976 German Protestant theologian and Professor of New Testament at Marburg from 1921 to 1951 (where Heidegger was a colleague). Identified with existentialist philosophy, Bultmann, one of the founders of "Form Criticism," is best known for his "demythologizing" concept in relation to the New Testament.

Bultmann held that the central message of the New Testament is couched in mythological language, i.e., an obsolete conception of the universe. He further argued that the Gospels contain almost no authentic historical information about Jesus that is reliable and that one must encounter the "Christ of faith" in the here and now (his existentialism) and disregard the account in the Gospels (his radical scepticism ). Though subsequent scholarship has brought into question much of Bultmann's work, his influence on modern theology has been great. Bultmann's most important works include: The History of the Synoptic Tradition (1921); Jesus and the Word (1926); Faith and Understanding (2 vols., 1933); New Testament Mythology (1941); Kerygma and Myth (1953); Theology of the New Testament (2 vols., 1952-1955); History and Eschatology (1957); Jesus Christ and Mythology (1960); Existence and Faith (1964); The Gospel of John (1971).

WWW -- Rudolf Bultmann Rudolf Bultmann (Britannica) -- Overview and links. Hans Kung b.1928 Swiss Roman Catholic theologian and professor at Tubingen. Kung's interests have been apologetics, ecumenism and reform of the Roman Catholic Church. His questioning of Roman Catholic doctrine caused him to be removed from teaching theology (though not from teaching). In his extensive writings for fellow theologians and laymen, Kung has sought to show that the Christian message, centered in the historical Jesus , is relevant for the modern world. He has also attempted to reconcile the Roman Catholic and Protestant views of justification. For Kung the test for everything is the evangelical test of the gospel, not the tradition of the church. He sees himself as the loyal opposition to the entrenched authoritarianism of the church. His principles have been the source of his troubles and his enemies consider him virtually a Protestant. Kung's most important writings include: Justification (1965); The Church (1967); Infallible?

An Inquiry (1971); On Being a Christian (1977); Does God Exist (1980); Eternal Life (1984); Christianity and World Religions (1986); Why I am still a Christian (1987). WWW -- Hans Kung Hans Kung (Britannica) -- Overview and links. Hans Kung (minbuza) -- Image, bio, bibliography, and several online texts. The Historical Credibility of Hans Kung (Joseph F. Costanzo) -- An attack from a Catholic theologian. "In 1970, Hans Kung's Unfehlbar? Eine Anfrage appeared (English translation, Infallibility? An Inquiry, 1971), which challenges a basic dogma of the Catholic faith. The Credibility of Hans Kung: An Inquiry and Commentary is devoted exclusively to this book.

We hope that some may find it a helpful companion study to Kung's own book and perhaps conclude, as does the writer, that Kung's book raises far more disturbing questions about his credibility as a scholar learned in history and theology and, alas, about his orthodoxy of Catholic belief than he raises valid questioning of orthodox Catholic ecclesiology." Reinhold Niebuhr 1892-1971 Influential American Protestant theologian. Niebuhr, a pastor of the Bethel Evangelical Church in working-class Detroit from 1915 to 1928, was appointed Professor of Applied Christianity in Union Theological Seminary, New York where he remained from 1928 until his retirement in 1960. Opposed to both liberal theology and metaphysics, Niebuhr propounded a Christianity based on original sin and a prophetic message. He taught that the essence of sin is pride and maintained a constant critique of American social and political institutions, arguing that Christianity was to have an effect on society. He argued that Christians should engage in social and political affairs but must work diligently to avoid naivety; clever and subtle use of power must be balanced by an equally clever and subtle power.

(This is one reason he attacked the pacifists in the 1930s.) In Detroit he had seen the impersonal and callous way industry treated ordinary laborers and was frustrated by the the inability of liberal Protestantism's utopian "Social Gospel" to deal with unrestrained capitalistic freedom and greed. On the other hand, Niebuhr was also critical of Marxist and other leftist revolutionaries and their absolutist pride in the validity of their claims. Often called the theologian to FDR 's "New Deal," his Christian realism influenced a whole generation of scholars and clergymen. Niebuhr's most important writings include: Does Civilization Need Religion?

(1928); Moral Man and Immoral Society (1932); An Interpretation of Christian Ethics (1936); Beyond Tragedy (1938); The Nature and Destiny of Man (2 vols., 1941-1943); Faith and History (1949); The Irony of American History (1952); Christian Realism and Political Problems (1954); The Self and Dramas of History (1955); Structures of Nations and Empires (1959); Man's Nature and His Communities (1965). WWW -- Reinhold Niebuhr The Serenity Prayer (miningco) -- Text. Karl Rahner 1904-1984 German Roman Catholic theologian. Considered by many to be the leading Roman Catholic theologian of the twentieth century, Rahner was chosen by Pope John XXIII to be a theological advisor to Vatican Council II . His purpose was to reinterpret the traditional teachings (dogmas) of the church so as to have existential (he studied with Heidegger in Freiburg) meaning in terms of universal human experience.

For Rahner, Christianity is a message of infinite mystery, and human existence is oriented toward this mystery. God (Mystery) is always involved in self-communication in the transcendental experience of all human beings who are free to accept or reject Him. Rahner believed that grace is already present in human nature and that salvation can be realized without specific reference to anything Christian. As long as they have not specifically rejected the possibility of a relationship to God, these people, whom Rahner calls "anonymous Christians," may be in other religions or even atheists. His position has been called "transcendental Christology." Rahner's most important writings include: Spirit in the World (1939); Theological Investigations (20 vols, 1961-1981); Foundations of Christian Faith (1978); The Practice of Faith (1985). WWW -- Karl Rahner Karl Rahner Society Home Page -- Includes biographical info and papers. Albert Schweitzer 1875-1965 Distinguished Alsatian humanitarian, medical doctor, medical missionary, Bach scholar, organist, philosopher and theologian.

In 1896 he made his famous decision to live for science and art until he was 30 and then devote his life to serving humanity. In 1913 he and his wife went to set up a hospital to fight leprosy and sleeping sickness in Lambarene in Gabon, French Equatorial Africa. From time to time he returned to Europe for lectures and organ recitals to raise money for his hospital. He also found time to keep up his writing as well. In his first theological work, The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906), Schweitzer described Jesus as believing that the apocalyptic kingdom of God would appear momentarily as a result of his piety and the piety of his followers. When the imminent kingdom did not materialize, Schweitzer held that Jesus determined that he must undergo the tribulation alone, thus the Cross. Schweitzer was also devoted to a system of ethics based on what he called "reverence for life." Avoiding killing even insects and plants was the goal -- an impossible one to carry out -- but Schweitzer felt the principle was implicit in the ethics of Jesus. He was awarded the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize.

Sometimes accused of paternalism, his critics never bothered to ask his patients what they thought of him (they adored him!). Schweitzer's other most important works include: Paul and His Interpreters (1911); The Psychiatric Study of Jesus (1913); On the Edge of the Primeval Forest (1922); The Philosophy of Civilization (1923); Christianity and the Religions of the World (1923); The Decay and Restoration of Civilization (1923); Out of My Life and Thought (1933); The Kingdom of God and Primitive Christianity (1967, posth.). WWW -- Albert Schweitzer Albert Schweitzer: German Philosopher, Physician & Humanitarian (lucidcafe) -- Image, brief overview and links. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 1881-1955 French Jesuit theologian, paleontologist and philosopher. Teilhard de Chardin spent most of the 1920s and 1930s in China working as a paleontologist (where he helped to discover Peking Man in 1929). He returned to France in 1946.

Disturbed with his views on original sin and evolution, his Jesuit superiors forbade him to teach or publish. He moved to New York in 1951 and continued to work on anthropological research. Owing to the Jesuit ban on his publications, he was little known during his lifetime, but after his death when his works were finally published his influence spread rapidly. Teilhard de Chardin attempted to provide a coherent explanation of the world by incorporating evolution, philosophy, science and theology. He believed God to be a part of the evolutionary process with the world always moving towards greater complexity and man always moving toward higher levels of consciousness. Intensely optimistic, deeply Christian and a mystic, he emphasized the cosmic role of Christ rather than His redemptive role and maintained an incarnational theology centered in Christ as the goal and crowning point of the natural order. Teilhard de Chardin's most important works include: The Phenomenon of Man (1955, posth.); The Divine Milieu (1957, posth.); The Future of Man (1964, posth.); Hymn of the Universe (1965, posth.).

WWW -- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and The Phenomenon of Man (Joseph MacDonnell) -- Image and profile. Paul Tillich 1886-1965 German-born American Protestant theologian and philosopher. In 1929 Tillich was appointed Professor of Philosophy at Frankfurt. In 1933, as a critic of Hitler , he became the first non-Jewish academic to be dismissed from his post. (He was justifiably proud of this dismissal.) He emigrated to the United States and, through the influence of Reinhold Niebuhr , was invited to Union Theological Seminary in New York where he became Professor of Philosophical Theology. As a philosophical theologian, Tillich attempted to mediate between Christian theology and secular ideas; between philosophy and theology, religion and culture, Lutheranism and socialism. He admitted that this could not be done perfectly, only approximately, because no system of theology embraces the whole truth. Theology, for Tillich, was always in the process of development and correction.

In his magnum opus, Systematic Theology (3 vols., 1951-1963) he described his method as that of correlation. "In using the method of correlation, systematic theology proceeds in the following way: it makes an analysis of the human situation out of which existential questions arise, and it demonstrates that the symbols used in the Christian message are the answers to these questions." (Systematic Theology I, p.70). He then defined five areas of correlation: reason and revelation; being and God; human existence and Christ; life in its ambiguities and the Spirit; the meaning of history and the Kingdom of God. Tillich described God as "Being Itself" and faith as a matter of "ultimate concern." Tillich's other most important works include: The Protestant Era (1947); The Courage to Be (1952); Love, Power and Justice (1954); Dynamics of Faith (1957); Theology Of Culture (1959); Morality and Beyond (1963). WWW -- Paul Tillich Department of Ophthalmology, PoznańCity Hospital, ul.

Szwajcarska 3, 61-285 Poznań, Poland b Chair of Ophthalmology, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland c Department of Ethics and Human Philosophy, Medical University of Lublin, ul. Staszica 4/6, 20-059 Lublin, Poland d Cardiology Department, Independent Public District Stefan KardynałWyszyński’s Hospital in Lublin, Al. Kraśnicka 100, 20-718 Lublin, Poland Abstract Leprosy, which in particular affects poor people of developing countries, was also a challenge for social and charitable activities. This was possible due to the engagement of “great community workers,”people who devoted their professional and family life, passions, and their own material goods to conduct socio-medical activities among leprosy affected persons. This contribution discusses the work of the lepro-activists of international fame, Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, as well as those who are less well known, Wanda Maria Błeńska and Marian Żelazek. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction Leprosy, which in particular affects poor people of developing countries, was not only a challenge for medicine, but also for social and charitable activities. Achieving aims in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of this disease in the 20th century would not have been possible without the development of a system of charity work and the engagement of “great community workers,”people who devoted their professional and family life, passions, and their own material goods to conduct socio-medical activities among leprosy patients. The dynamic advancement of the 20th century Western Civilization, together with innovations in diagnosis and treatment of leprosy, created opportunities for aiding leprosy patients living mostly in developing countries. From this perspective, it is essential to mention the contribution of the contemporary lepro-activists, especially those of unques- tionable international fame: Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, as well as those who are less well known, doctors and clergy members, working on behalf of leprosy-af- fected persons: Wanda Maria Błeńska and Marian Żelazek.

Music, philosophy, and leprosy A prominent social activist working on behalf of leprosy-affected persons was an Alsatian theologian, a Lutheran minister, musicologist, philosopher, and doctor— Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) (Figure 1). 1 He had great scientific and artistic potential, backed by outstanding achievements, such as a doctorate in philosophy (1899) and evangelical theology (1900), the title of assistant professor of theological sciences (1902), and medical studies, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine in Strasbourg in February 1913 based on his dissertation titled “The Psychiatric Study of Jesus.” 2 also included piano and organ studies in Paris. 3 of the most important researchers of the life and works of Johann Sebastian Bach. His fundamental work titled “John Sebastian Bach” was the starting point for further studies and interpretations of the achievements of this German composer. Despite excellent prospects for a scientific and ⁎Corresponding author. Tel.: +48 505 074 224. E-mail address: ae.grzybowski@gmail.com (A. Grzybowski).

0738-081X/© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Clinics in Dermatology (2016) 34,11–15 artistic career, he decided to renounce these for social and charitable activities carried out among the leprosy patients of Africa. At the age of 21, Schweitzer decided that by the age of 30 he would devote his life to scientific work, music, and the ministry, and afterwards to the service of humanity, in accordance with his conviction that everybody should fulfill humanitarian tasks on behalf of mankind only as a man, not as a member of a particular nation or religion. In 1913, together with his wife Helen, he founded a leprosy hospital in Lambaréné in the French Congo (present-day Gabon). In 1924, the hospital expanded with a leprosarium. The world of classical music, which could provide for him and his family, became a financial source for the conducted social activities. Traveling through Europe and the United States, he gave concerts and made records with organ music to acquire funds for the maintenance of the hospital.

Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), appreciating the artistic merits of Schweitzer’s organ concerts, stated that “those hands which build the hospital in Lambaréné, showed the greatness of Bach’s chorales to many people so far indifferent to the beauty of music.” 5 His work among leprosy patients inspired Schweitzer to develop a unique philosophic concept on the respect for life. 6 In September 1915, while sailing on the Gabonese river, Albert Schweitzer became intellectually overwhelmed by the idea of “Reverence for Life,”the consequence of which was the obligation to save lives and to alleviate suffering. He stated that reverence for the human life requires respect, not only towards humans but also towards animals, and even plants, forbidding their thoughtless destruction: “I am life that wants to live, in the midst of life that wants to live.” 7 created the concept of “ethics of reverence for life”by thoroughly analyzing Western culture and civilization and emphasized that the human of the Western civilization is not the ruler but a part of nature.

What is more, he stated: “The trial to establish generally applicable differences of values between living creatures, derives from the fact that they are evaluated according to whether they appear to us humans, as closer or more remote, which is a completely subjective measure.”He repeatedly quoted the words “Ta twam asi”(“This is you”)in reference to plants, animals, and other people.. He evidenced great appreciation for the beliefs and deeds of St. Francis of Assisi. Being engaged in pacifist activities after the World War II, he frequently emphasized that men, to save themselves from annihilation, should experience a sense of unity with all the creatures united by a common destiny in the world of incomprehensible cruelty.

In April 1962, Schweitzer wrote a letter to President Kennedy as “someone who has occupied himself for a long time with the problem of atomic weapons and with the problem of peace.” 8 Thirteen years before that, Time magazine wrote that he was “one of the most extraordinary men of modern times.” 9 1952, Albert Schweitzer received the Nobel Peace Prize and, according to the words of his friend Albert Einstein, Schweitzer “did not preach and did not warn and did not dream that his example would be an ideal and comfort to innumerable people. He simply acted out of inner necessity.” Mother Teresa’s ideas of ministry to the lepers A person who had a significant contribution to the creation of a system of care for poor people afflicted with leprosy was Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)—an Albanian nun and founder of the Missionaries of Char- ity—recognized in a survey conducted in the United States by Gallup, Inc. as the most admired person of the twentieth century.

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (monastic name Maria Theresa of Child Jesus) served the poor, sick, and orphaned children and those dying in India for over 45 years. Already in the 1970s, she was known as a community activist, sacrificing her life for the poor and sick. According to Joan Graff Clucas, Agnes was fascinated with the lives of missionaries and their ministry, and she decided to devote her life to God at the age of 12. 12 At the age of 18, she joined the Congregation of Jesus and became a missionary. She left her home country, Albania, never to return again due to political reasons. She started her Fig. 1 Albert Schweitzer in 1953. Official Nobel portrait of Albert Schweitzer, with his signature, Nobel Foundation. (From: Wikimedia Commons 12 A. Grzybowski et al. missionary work in the slums in Calcutta in August 1948, abandoning the religious habit of Congregation of Jesus for a plain cotton sari with blue borders. She became an Indian citizen.

In October 1950, Mother Teresa obtained permis- sion from the Vatican to establish a diocesan congregation, which later became the congregation of the Missionaries of Charity. This is how she specified the purpose of her order as to care for “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society, and are shunned by everyone.”The congregation begun functioning in Calcutta having initially only 13 members. 14 From the very beginning of her mission, Mother Teresa had contact with people affected with leprosy. The disease was a tremendous problem near and in Calcutta, as approximately 30 thousand leprosy patients lived there. The majority of the cases resulted from malnutrition and inadequate medical care. In 1956, Mother Theresa and the Missionaries of Charity order established the first center for leprosy patients—“Shantinagar”(“City of Peace”)near Asansol, and initially only five cases inhabited the center. 15 Mother Theresa became interested in the possibility of treating leprosy.

She learned that near Madras (in Polam- bakkam), a Belgian doctor Frans Hemerijckx (1902-1969) invented a cure for leprosy and developed a method for treating the disease on a large scale. 16 equipped, mobile out-patients’clinics (“a clinic under the trees”), he helped many leprosy-affected persons in their houses, thereby reaching a substantial number of patients. 17 This method was then used by Mother Teresa in Calcutta. Soon mobile clinics became a sign of Missionaries of Charity. Treatment of the afflicted consisted of administering sulfones, treating accompanying ailments, giving out free milk and rice, and restoring dignity and confidence. Patients were encour- aged, if possible, to take care of their maintenance and taught a variety of medial jobs to restore their self-esteem. Mother Teresa’s sisters reached with this program all leprosaria, bringing help to tens of thousands of children. Many were cured.

When the authorities of Calcutta, wanting to build a housing estate on the outskirts of the city, had to destroy one of the leprosaria established by Mother Teresa, it became an opportunity to initiate a battle for the leprosy-affected persons. Defending the diseased, Mother Teresa went to the Minister of Health and, with the help of press, launched a campaign called “Leprosy Collection Day.”Mother There- sa’s sisters and friends walked around Calcutta carrying tins with the words “touch the leper with your goodness”written on them. The response was great, and money poured in from all sides. What is more, the government offered a large area of land for leprosy-affected persons displaced from the area taken under the residential development. This way, in 1959, Titagarh was founded—renamed later to commemorate the great love Ghandi had had for those patients to “Gaandhiji’s Prem Nivas,”meaning “gift of Ghandhi’s love.” 18 In 1979, Mother Theresa received a Nobel Prize and, a year later, the highest Indian state award Bharat Ratna order for humanitarian work.

Missionaries of Charity developed systematically, and by 1997, which was the year of the death of the founder, they had 610 missions in 123 countries (hospices; homes for those infected with HIV/AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; support programs for children and families; orphanages; and schools). Polish “Mother of the Lepers” It is possible to identify many similarities between the activities of Mother Teresa and Polish missionaries (both clergy and lay people) working among the leprosy-affected persons. A lay missionary working among leprosy patients whose sacrifice could be compared to that of Mother Theresa’s and whose medical professionalism in treating leprosy with that of Albert Schweitzer was a Polish doctor named Wanda Maria Błeńska, who turned 102 in 2013. She was born on October 30, 1911, in Poznańand graduated with a degree in medicine from the Medical University of Poznańin 1934. During World War II, she was a second lieutenant in the Polish resistance movement military independence organizations: Pomeranian Griffin and the Polish Home Army.

Not being able to lead an official medical practice during World War II, she provided medical assistance in secret. She was summoned to the wounded in the guerilla fighting and to patients hiding from the Gestapo. On September 23, 1944, Wanda Błeńska was arrested by the Gestapo and was facing the death penalty. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the members of the organization, she was redeemed in exchange for food. After the end of World War II, Wanda moved to Gdańsk where she began working in the National Institute of Hygiene. She also lectured in bacteriology at the Medical University of Gdańsk and co-founded the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Gdynia. her brother, who was at that time living in Germany, was ill, she decided to go to him right away. Departing the country in a legal manner turned out to be impossible; thus Wanda left hidden in a box of coal on a boat traveling to Lubeka. Faithful to her dreams of working in the mission, she graduated from a course in tropical medicine in Hanover and in 1948, completed postgraduate studies from the Institute of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at the University of Liverpool.

On February 9, 1950, she traveled to Africa, and over the next 43 years, until 1994, she worked in a leprosy treatment center in Bulubie Lake Victoria in Uganda, where she was the physician-in-chief between 1951 and 1983. Initially a small facility run by Irish Franciscans, it became a modern therapeutic and training center under her direction, with a 100-bed hospital and a pediatric ward, diagnostic facilities, accommodation for leprosy patients, and a church, which currently bears her name (“Buluba Leprosy Centre, The 13Misericordia and leprosy in the 20th century Wanda Blenska Training Centre”). from training for physicians, Błeńska organized “Leprosy Assisted Training Courses”for caretakers. During many years of charity and medical work she made detailed observations on leprosy and the possibility of treating it with clofazimin. She published the outcomes of her findings in international medical journals.

24,25 of work with leprosy patients gave her the nickname of “Mother of Lepers.” She often repeated that patients with leprosy should receive vitamins, among which the most important is vitamin “L,”meaning love. 26 described her as the “Missionary Ambassador of Laity.”She was given many distinctions, including the Honorary Citizenship of the city of Poznań(2001) (proposed by one of the authors, AG) and Uganda, and an honorary doctorate by Poznan University of Medical Sciences (1994). Marian Żelazek—Polish lepro-missionary Marian Żelazek (1918-2006) was a Polish missionary from the congregation of the Devine Word Missionaries working, like Mother Theresa, among leprosy patients in India. He was born on January 30, 1918, in Palędzie near Poznan. After graduating from primary school, he began learning in the Missionary Gymnasium in Górna Grupa near Grudziądz.

In September 1937, he joined the novitiate of the Devine Word Missionaries seminary in Chludowo near Poznań. A few days after the outbreak of World War II, on September 4, 1939, he took his religious vows. Half a year later, on May 20, 1940, he was arrested by German authorities and imprisoned at Fort VII in Poznań. A few days later, he was taken and imprisoned in a concentration camp in Dachau, then at Gusen, and then in Dachau again. After the liberation of Dachau by American troops on April 29, 1945, he went to study theology in Rome. He studied at the Anselmianum Institute. In 1948, he received holy orders in Rome. In March 1950, the Devine Word Missionaries sent him to Kesramal/Stambalpur in Orissa in northern India.

For 25 years, he worked among the Adivasi, Indian aborigines- nomads living in the jungle, which the Hindus despised, calling them—due to their skimpy clothing—“monkey- people." In 1968, he organized a mission in Bondamunda. From June 1975, he worked for many years with lepers on the outskirts of Indian city of Puri in Orissa. 21,27 the “Puna-ruthanpali”(“Village of Resurrection”). It ex- panded to more than 300 homes for people living with leprosy, who, due to their disease, were rejected form society. In 1983, thanks to his efforts, “Beatrix,”a school for children whose parents suffered from leprosy, was estab- lished. The teachers were, among others, those cured of leprosy. He also created a hospital and care homes for children from families affected by leprosy, which made it possible to monitor the health of those children. Doctors from Poland and Italy came and still do come to this hospital.

Residents of the “Village of Resurrection”who could work were employed in the shoe shops, specializing in manufacturing footwear for those patients whose feet were crippled by the disease. In the village, there was also a string production workshop, weaving mill, tailor’s shop, and a brickyard. Marian Żelazek also founded a dental clinic for those suffering from leprosy. What is more, the “Village of Resurrection”had its own vegetable garden, orchard, and chicken farm. Marian Żelazek had a huge contribution not only in the creation of the system and infrastructure for caring for those affected by leprosy, but also in overcoming social stigma. He tried to convince the Indians that they should not fear persons affected with leprosy. Previously, nobody wanted to buy chickens from the inhabitants of the “Village of Resurrection,” which they grew to earn a living. Żelazek changed that way of thinking. Thanks to the everyday, painstaking work in the field of overcoming prejudice, he changed the social perception of the school for children from families affected with leprosy. Previously, no one from the unaffected population of the city of Puri would send their children there.

Currently, 80% of the students attending the school come from healthy families. In 2001, for his contribution, Marian Żelazek was reported by the Movement of Solidarity with the Poor of the Third World ‘Maitri’as an official candidate for the Nobel Prize. In 2005, he received the Honorary Citizenship of the city of Poznań (proposed by one of the authors, AG). In the same year, he was granted the reward of Sérgio Vieira de Mello, given by the Willa Decjusza Association. Żelazek died in 2006 in Puri. Hindus treat him as a saint and pray to him. 28,29 Analysis of the achievements of the 20th century doctors and missionaries engaged in selfless charity can be a prerequisite for creating system solutions for the care of leprosy affected persons, especially in developing countries. Tedious and long-term charitable activities carried out gradually overcame the barriers of access to modern diagnosis and treatment possibilities for the leprosy cases.

This activity was not only expressed by the establishment and maintenance of treatment and long-term care for patients, but also by activating people affected by the disease and by overcoming social stigma which was strongly rooted among the healthy population. Overcoming the social stigma of leprosy would not have been possible without the personal “life certificate”of these great lepro-philanthropists. References 1. Isaacs MD. Blessed are the peacemakers: Albert Schweitzer as exemplar. J UnificationStud. 2008;9. Available at: Unification/Publications/JournalUnificationStudies9/JUS9-06.html, 14 A. Grzybowski et al. 2. Schweitzer A. The Psychiatric Study of Jesus: Exposition and Criticism. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith. 1911. 3. Schweitzer A. Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography. Translated by A. Bultmann Lemke. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 2009. 4. Schweitzer A. J. S. Bach. Translated by E. Newman. New York, NY: Dover Press.

1966. 5. Gaertner H. Albert Schweitzer życie, myśl i dzieło. Kraków, Poland: Wydawnictwo WAM. 2007. 6. Cottrell-Free A. Animals, Nature and Albert Schweitzer. Washington, D.C.: The Flying Fox Press. 2000. 7. Schweitzer A. The Philosophy of Civilization, “Part One: The Decay and the Restoration of Civilization”and “Part Two: Civilization and Ethics.”Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 1923309. 8. AISL-Association Internationale Schweitzer Lambarene. The commit- ment of Albert Schweitzer against the nuclear bombs. Available at: 9. Religion: Reverence for Life. Time 54;1949. Available at: http:// content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,853820,00.html. 10. AISL-Association Internationale Schweitzer Lambarene. Biography. Available at: biography-long. Accessed April 15th, 2014. 11. Newport F.

Mother Teresa Voted by American People as Most Admired Person of the Century Top 5 list rounded out by Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Albert Einstein, and Helen Keller.Gallup News Service. December 31, 1999. Available at: mother-teresa-voted-american-people-most-admired-person-century. aspx, Accessed April 20th, 2014. 12. Graff Clucas J. Mother Teresa. New York, NY: Chelsea House Publications. 1988. 13. Williams P. Mother Teresa. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books. 2002. 14. Spink K. Mother Teresa: A Complete Authorized Biography. New York, NY: HarperCollins. 1997. 15. Chawla N. Mother Teresa: The Authorized Biography. Rockport, Mass: Element Books Ltd. 1996. 16. Allegri R. Conversations with Mother Teresa: A Personal Portrait of the Saint, Her Mission, and Her Great Love for God. Frederick, MD: The Word Among Us Press;. 2011. 17.

Kyle RA, Shampo MA. Frans Hemerijckx. JAMA. 1981;245:386. 18. Gonzalez-Balado JL. Mother Teresa: In My Own Words. New York, NY: Gramercy Book. 1998. 19. Andrzejak A. Poznanianka matkątrędowatych: Doktor Wanda Błeńska. Kronika Miasta Poznania: Organ Towarzystwa Miłośników Miasta Poznania, 79; 2011. p. 307-318. 20. Nawrocka M. Jej światło. O życiu i dziele Wandy Błeńskiej. Poznań, Poland: Wydawnictwo Kontekst. 2005. 21. Woy-Wojciechowski J. Missionaries of health. Przew Lek. 2010;2:16-20. 22. Blenska W, Kolakowska E. A pilot study of leprosy treatment with a combination of various antileprosy drugs.

Preliminary report. Z Tropenmed Parasitol. 1973;24(Suppl 1):26-31. 23. Leiker DL, Blenska W, CarlingD,FitzherbertM,LarssenP. Bacteriological effect of Lamprene (clofazimine) in lepromatous leprosy (report of one year's treatment of 44 patients with 100 mg of Lamprene daily). Lepr Rev. 1971;42:125-130. 24. Blenska W. Leprosy in children. East Afr Med J. 1966;43:533-535. 25. Blenska W. Pattern of leprosy reactions in Uganda. Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis. 1971;39:433-443. 26. Molewska J, Pawelec M. Wanda Błeńska Spełnione życie. Księgarnia Św. Wojciecha: Wydawnictwo. 2011. 27.

Das P. Fr. Marian hardly excited by peace prize nomination The Hindu. Online edition of India's National Newspaper. 2002.. Available at: htm, Accessed April 23th, 2014. 28. Wejsis-Gołębiak M. Father Marian Żelazek 1918-2006: The Divine World Missionary. New Delhi, India: Embassy of the Republic of Poland. 2007. 29. Smreczyńska-Gąbka A. Garden of Hope. In Memory of Father Marian Żelazek SVD: A Father to the Lepers and the Needy. Warsaw, Poland: Verbinum; 2012. 15Misericordia and leprosy in the 20th century CitationsCitations1

Question: Which 20th century German theologian and doctor who established a famous hospital in Gabon was known for his philosophy called 'Reverence for Life'?
Answer: Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)